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Loading a Fuel Truck at the Rack: Checks Before and After

Most fuel that reaches an aircraft passes through a truck first, and most trucks are filled at the fuel farm's loading rack. Loading is routine, which is exactly why it deserves the same care as fueling an airplane. A mistake at the rack goes everywhere that truck goes.

Here are the usual checks before, during, and after. Your manual and your training set the actual steps.

Before You Connect

• Right product, right truck. Confirm that the rack position and the truck are for the same grade, by reading the markings on both, every time. Some loading systems use grade-selective couplings, but don't let that be the only check.
• Know how much it can take. Check the truck's gauge or the amount already in the tank against its capacity before you start.
• Check the overfill protection the way your procedures say. Refuelers are commonly fitted with a high-level shutoff that stops loading automatically when the tank is nearly full, often with a precheck to test it before loading starts.
• Look the connection over: adapters, caps, and hoses clean and undamaged.

Bond First

Loading moves a lot of fuel quickly, which builds static. Connect the rack's bonding cable to the truck before any loading connection is made, and leave it on until loading is finished and the hose is disconnected. The bonding post covers why the order matters.

Watch the Load

• Stay with it. The deadman control at the loading station only lets fuel flow while you hold it, so you're at the controls the whole time. Never block or bypass it.
• Watch the gauges and the flow, and be ready to stop.
• Know where the emergency shutoff is before you start, and use it if anything goes wrong.
• Don't rely on the high-level shutoff to end every load. It's a safeguard, not the plan.

After Loading

• Disconnect in order: the loading hose, caps back on, and the bond last.
• Let the fuel settle and sample it the way your manual says, draining the truck's sump and checking for water and dirt. The fuel truck daily check covers the sump.
• Check the truck's markings one more time, so the grade on the truck matches what's in it.
• Walk around the rack and the truck for drips or leaks before you drive away.

When Something Looks Wrong

If anything doesn't look right at any point, such as a grade marking that doesn't match, a leak, a shutoff that fails its precheck, or a sample with water or dirt in it, stop. Don't finish the load to deal with it later, and don't put the truck in service. Tell your supervisor and follow your procedures, which usually means tagging the truck or the rack position out of service until it's sorted out. A truck that waits an hour costs far less than fuel that shouldn't have gone into an airplane.

Write It Down

Record the load the way your procedures say: the truck, the product, the amount, the time, who loaded it, and the sample result. That record is how a question about a truck's fuel gets answered later, and how loads tie back to the tanks they came from. The fuel farm daily check covers the tank side.

Where AvGrav Fits

A gravity check after loading is a quick way to confirm what's in the truck. In AvGrav, set up each truck under Tank or Truck in Settings, take the reading and its temperature, and the corrected gravity saves to History under that truck's name, with the time, photos, and a note. If the truck's fuel is ever questioned, its last reading is easy to find. It's a reference tool, not a replacement for your QC program.

If your loading records are kept in Zulu time, AvClock, from the same developer, shows UTC next to local time for any airport.

Common Questions

AvGrav and this guide are reference and convenience tools, not certified measurement instruments or a substitute for a calibrated hydrometer, thermometer, or your organization's official procedures. Always follow your organization's quality control program and applicable regulations before accepting, rejecting, or releasing any fuel.